Paths
by TigerxFox
Summary: Zoro has the opportunity to visit parallel realities and see what his futures are with Sanji.


He loved him so damn much. All he wanted was a small, tiny chance, that one in 14 million. But it would never come, he thought. His number was a round zero. Wrong place, wrong time, it would never work out. It was then that, by magic or some other sort of thing in which he never even believed, that he had the opportunity to visit other realities. Alternatives ones to his zero. Possibilities and chances.

It all happened one night when he was suddenly taken to a strange place, and he could have sworn he was dreaming. There were several doors in front of him, all he had to do was choose the one he wanted to enter and have a taste of other realities. The first door he entered was the perfect reality in his mind, of which he had always dreamed. The blonde had never started dating the witch and they still lived in the same town. He and Sanji started dating just after they finished high school. Zoro wished he never had to get out of that reality, he wanted the free sample to become a premium package. But eventually, when time was up, he had to leave the door.

Behind the next door, there was an even better reality, if that was even possible. Sanji's father had died tragically early (to be honest, Zoro was not upset at all) and the blond was adopted by an old man with a strange mustache, a temper just like the blonde's and his mouth as dirty as his. Zoro could swear he was his biological father if he didn't know about the existence of that garbage Vinsmoke man. Sanji grew up free with the mustache man, did not have his wings pruned and was not repressed. He accepted his sexuality much earlier and they were already dating at highschool.

In another door, there was a reality in which Zoro had left school. This was always a possibility since he never had much patience for it, but even so, in his own reality, he struggled to finish. But, in this one, he left before he even met Sanji. Ah, at last the cruel realities made their appearance, it was about time. If he had never met the blonde, then it was no use, Zoro thought. He turned back and headed for the door, but something kept him there, and held him back to wait a little longer. He stayed and saw that although they had not met so early in school, they eventually got to know each other when he went to lunch at Baratie with a pink-haired girl who seemed obnoxious. They flirted and fought on that first occasion and eventually started dating.

In the door that followed Zoro had never emigrated from Japan. He studied there and lived there. Okay, that one's rotten, he thought. But there was a feeling, or some kind of hypnosis perhaps, that prevented him from leaving before seeing the result. He closely watched his quiet life in Japan, teaching children kendo, exercising, and performing his routine calmly. Then, he perceived a lost tourist. The blond man clearly didn't know a word of Japanese and, although he was actually pretty good with directions, he was very lost in the way to his hotel. Zoro approached him and spoke english with the guy, trying to help him. In the end, they still got lost a little bit, after all Zoro understood the language of the map and the plates, but it was terrible with directions, but eventually they arrived at the right location. Sanji thanked him with a beautiful smile and an invitation to dinner.

Then, there was the most painful one. The door Zoro was most afraid of. Because it was a reality frighteningly similar to his: They had already finished high school, Sanji was still dating Nami and he had moved to another state to attend university. He was coming back to visit his father for a weekend. He found himself in his room scribbling on that awful, lazy handwriting that was so his, and he knew very well what it was that he was writing. "I love you." No. That was _exactly_ what he meant, but it was very simple. "I want you. And all you can give me. If you want me, I'll give you everything I have." No, he would never be able to say such a thing out loud. Zoro felt his cheeks burn only at the thought of uttering the words and saw the cheeks of his other self redder than his own. He scribbled something else on the paper and his gaze seemed determined. He went to Sanji and said the words. He was rejected. And although his other self remained with the same expression, probably for of being in the presence of the blonde, he felt shy tears wet his own face. Finally…finally a reality just like his own, a reality with 0 chances. Zoro wanted to turn around and get out of that bitter door but his body didn't move; he had to see until the end. Several years seemed to have passed and Zoro found himself looking old, carefully polishing his swords, he was still friends with Sanji apparently, as he was watching him from across the sofa. And at age forty the blonde interrupted Zoro's movement to steal a kiss and accept the confession from 20 years ago. They married a few months later.

Other doors followed, and in all of them the result was the same. Some were similar to his own reality, except for small details and choices, others were in very different worlds. There was even one in which he and Sanji were pirates, sailing the sea and chasing their dreams, and even in that reality they ended up together.

After opening more doors than he could count, Zoro returned to his own reality and was shocked. He didn't know what to do. He canceled the visit to his father's because he needed to think more, to be a little alone, and maybe even scribble more clumsy confessions. He ended up deciding to visit his father only on vacation. Shortly before that, Sanji had ended his relationship with the witch, according to what he had told him on one of his innumerable night calls. Zoro had the same determined look his other self had when he returned to his father's and asked the blonde to come and talk. It could seem as if he'd gathered all the courage he had and hadn't, but in fact it was because he had nothing to fear.

"You know ... I-I found out something kinda funny a while ago." Zoro spoke sheepishly, though confidently.

"What?" Sanji asked curiously, the curly eyebrow that was his charm raised almost like a question mark.

"All paths lead to you." He said with a silly smile as he pulled the blonde's chin closer to him and pressed his lips to a kiss he hoped would convey all his feelings.

It was quite convenient indeed for someone so lost. No matter what path he took, it would always lead to the same place. The right place. His place.


End file.
